In 1999 he was fully promoted to Superintendent at Stansted Airport, seeing through critical operations involving a Boeing 747 crash and a hijack.
[citation needed] In May 2005 his 28-year career in Essex ended and he returned to his birth country of Scotland as he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable at Strathclyde Police.
[citation needed] In August 2007 Learmonth returned to England and became Deputy Chief Constable at Norfolk Police.
He was responsible for human resources, legal services, professional standards and the force's business performance unit.
[3] In January 2014, Learmonth retired from policing and was in turn succeeded by the current chief constable of Kent, Alan Pughsley.